Codecademy has instituted gamified badges to great success, with different badges representing mastery in different coding languages. And here’s why these two systems are successful: they use badges as recognition for true achievement. These badges aren’t awarded to the person who shows up to work earliest the most days in a row; they represent weeks and months of work.

If you’re looking to use gamified badges to engage your employees make sure the badges actually mean something. This technology is only effective if it represents actual accomplishment, like the writer who creates the highest converting content, or the sales representative who closes the most difficult leads.